Detroit Tigers reliever Al Alburquerque’s kiss of the baseball in Sunday’s Game 2 of the AL Division Series wasn’t meant to show up the Oakland A's, he and his teammates insist, but it might be MLB’s highest profile smooch since Morganna the Kissing Bandit was announcing her presence with authority from the 1970s to ‘90s.

Alburquerque was so excited that he had induced a rally-killing comebacker in the ninth inning of the Tigers’ 5-4 win that he kissed the ball before tossing it to first baseman Prince Fielder.

And that didn’t sit well with the Oakland A’s, who now trail 2-0 in the best-of-5 ALDS.

A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who hit the comebacker, said afterward through an interpreter how he planned to respond, the San Francisco Chronicle reported: “It's OK, It's not a problem for me. We’re not finished yet. When I get back to Oakland, I am going to hit the ball hard against him. And I am going to kiss my bat.”

Numerous other A’s players commented on what they perceived as a lack of professionalism, among them was reserve outfielder Jonny Gomes.

“The emotion of the game,” Alburquerque said, according to freep.com. “I just tried to make my out. I feel so happy to get the guy out. That’s it. ... I don't know why I do that."

Alburquerque said teammate Austin Jackson asked him afterward what he was doing.

“I just kind of joked around with him a little bit,” Jackson said. “He’s just keeping it loose, just having fun. There’s no reason to get uptight while you’re out there. That’s his personality.”

Alburquerque told freep.com that late Tigers pitcher Jose Lima, a friend of his, has also kissed a baseball. Alburquerque hoped the A’s didn’t take offense, although Reddick clearly did.

“I don’t know what his thought process was,” Reddick said. “It’s something that should be kept off the field in between the lines, and I don’t think it should happen.”

According to freep.com, Tigers starter Max Scherzer started laughing when asked if he’s ever thought about kissing a baseball.

“Never,” Scherzer said. “I usually want to get it out of my glove and to the first baseman as fast as I can. When we saw that, we were cracking up in the dugout. We were like, ‘He really just kissed the ball?’ Sometimes it’s Al Alburquerque. You never know what you’re going to get.

“I think he’s the only one on the staff that’s ever going to do that again.” Scherzer said the A’s shouldn’t take it the wrong way.

“We’re in the playoffs,” he said. “We’re not trying to show each other up. We respect them. They respect us.”

Tigers assistant general manager Al Avila said he thought Alburquerque kissed the ball as a show of relief.

“Automatically, I thought, ‘Thank God,’ ” Avila said. “When he kissed it, I think he thought the same thing. When I saw it, that’s what I thought.”

Oakland manager Bob Melvin said he didn’t see Alburquerque’s peck, but said: “Obviously if he gives up a hit right there, it’s a different game.